Gratitude
by Lucifer Rosemaunt
Summary: Knauer/Crewe pre-slash really. Post 2005 movie. Crewe owes Knauer some favours.


Fandom: Longest Yard  
Disclaimer: Please don't sue. I don't own *insert fandom name from above*... All I own is an overactive imagination.  
Summary: Pre-slash really. Post 2005 movie. Crewe owes Knauer some favours.  
Warning(s): slash  
Pairing(s): Knauer/Crewe  
Word Count: 1,174

A/N: Day 21 of "22 new fandoms in 22 days." Calendar link up in my profile. I only vaguely remembered this movie when I agreed to do this fic. I watched it last night (the 2005 version) expecting not to see any slash, but I did have my slash goggles on and the ending just killed me. Did you know Crewe says, "Thank you, baby" to Knauer. I had subtitles on and I had to rewind it, 'cuz I was O.o?wtf? Did he just say baby?  
Story note: It's the whole prison guard-prisoner dynamic. It gets me every time.

o.o.o.o

Gratitude  
By: Lucifer Rosemaunt

o.o.o.o

Crewe was walking down the hallway, heading back towards his cell from the mess hall when an all too familiar voice called.

"Inmate Crewe."

Shaking his head slightly, he stopped walking. He could swear Knauer's voice was always that arrogant even though that couldn't be possible – the man had sounded sincere on the field. Glancing left and right down the hallway, he realized that they were alone. He sighed, wondering what he had done this time around. He greeted, "Captain Knauer."

The captain practically sauntered the rest of the distance between them. The man looked too smug, and it put Crewe on edge. He knew it meant that the guard had something up his sleeve.

"Adjusting well, I see," Knauer tilted his head to one side, eyes drifting from head to toe checking to see if there were any new bruises. He didn't really expect to find any, considering the quarterback had his teammates to back him up now. In fact, most of the bruises he'd received from his stay in Allenville had been given by Knauer; for some reason, that made him rather pleased.

All it had taken was three weeks of seeing what this man could do with a football team, his dedication, and how he'd stood up against the warden. He couldn't explain why he'd been so disappointed to hear that Crewe had decided to throw the game. Of course, his immediate response was that they could do it on their own, but it was something more than pride. He had actually expected more from Crewe. Secretly, that appreciation from before Crewe had been banned from the league had been reignited. One didn't become the MVP without having some fans and Knauer had been disappointed at first to say that he'd been one.

He could appreciate how things had turned out for Crewe though even when the man couldn't. Knauer had been glad that he'd driven drunk. Otherwise, he'd never have this opportunity. He didn't bother hiding the fact that his gaze lingered at a few areas longer than necessary.

Crewe was surprised by how much that gaze actually unsettled him. It was a bit too… possessive. Eyes narrowing, he took a step back to put some distance between them.

After the game, he considered them to be on good terms. The captain no longer tried to beat him up whenever they were in the same room, which was always a vast improvement in Crewe's opinion. However, if he thought about it, he'd been seeing the man a lot more nowadays. He guessed that the warden had actually been doing a good job running interference before.

If he was honest with himself, Crewe would admit that he had a grudging respect for Knauer. He might not be the dumb redneck he'd first thought him to be and after two games into the guard's football season where Knauer had proved to be an efficient and intelligent quarterback and coach, he almost wanted to congratulate the man for what he was accomplishing. Almost.

As it were, he was just wary, waiting to see what was going to happen.

"Unger's in the infirmary," Knauer informed.

"Unger?" Crewe repeated smugly. That had definitely been very considerate of the captain to arrange that meeting, allowing Unger some free time in the yard while the entire Mean Machine team had been present. It had taken the guards quite some time to break up the fight, not to mention the lag time between when the fight had started and when they even tried to stop them. Knauer even managed to blame the whole brawl on Unger himself.

Crewe definitely had a better opinion of the man.

"The pyro's alive," Knauer said with obvious distaste.

It was the moment that Knauer took that another step towards him, did Crewe realize that the captain wasn't just stating that as fact for the sake of knowing.

"What are you going to do to repay me?" Knauer's smile set off warning alarms in Crewe's head.

"Uh," he shrugged. "I know a guy who can hook you up with some McDonald's."

Knauer rolled his eyes, taking another step that took him in the realm of uncomfortably close. Crewe took a step back, looking past the captain hopes that someone else would soon show up. Nobody did. He could handle a fight or whatever punch the captain threw at him; he just didn't think the other man wanted to fight.

Pretending to be unaffected, Crewe joked, "A thank you's not good enough?"

"Well," Knauer said, allowing the distance between them to remain for the time being. He pretended to think about it, already knowing what he had been going to ask of the man any way. He needed to keep an eye on him. It wouldn't do if any of the inmates got any bright ideas on what to do with the superstar while in the block. He didn't care if Crewe could take care of himself. Knauer wasn't going to take any chances. "How about you stay on the sidelines at practice for some consultation?"

Crewe looked at him in disbelief. He wasn't sure he'd heard correctly. "You want my help?"

"Are you going to start questioning me?" Knauer retorted.

"Are you going to start hitting me?" Crewe replied. He relaxed, thinking that the captain had only wanted to ask for his help.

The captain smirked again. One thing Crewe had was balls, always unpredictable. Knauer liked unpredictable. "Not yet."

"Okay, then," for Crewe it was a no brainer. He'd rediscovered his love for football and anything was better than doing nothing. "I'll help."

"Good."

Thinking their conversation was over, Crewe tried to walk away. Knauer blocked his path.

"There's one more thing."

The feeling of unease returned. Crewe asked, "What?"

"You need to repay me for something else."

Running through all the favours he'd asked while at the prison, Crewe couldn't think of anything he'd asked the captain. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I saved your life." Knauer stated simply. He waited to see if Crewe would deny it.

Biting his bottom lip, Crewe had rather forgotten about that. Seeing that the captain was waiting for a response, he offered, "The old man said as much."

"And?"

"Thank you?" He knew that wouldn't be enough, but he could hope. He had nothing left to give except his expertise, but the captain had already gotten that. How could he possibly repay him anyway. He'd have to save the man's life just to break even.

"You know that's not how we thank people in prison," Knauer said. He looked expectantly at him. "I believe you took care of Lynette, right? That was a very nice hat trick."

Crewe winced and covered his eyes with his hand. Would he never live that down? But then the implications of what the captain had just said settled in. "What?"

"Three to five," Knauer said walking by him with a smirk. He grabbed Crewe's ass as he passed. "I look forward to numerous expressions of gratitude."

o.o.o.o

End ficlet

A/N: Don't forget to R/R (Read and Review)!  
Story Note: Honestly, I can't actually picture them getting physical with each other, but if I think about it vaguely, it's rather easy to see the relationship build up.


End file.
